First Shot by Bokerah Brumley

Author:Bokerah Brumley [Brumley, Bokerah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bokerah Brumley
Published: 2019-11-03T16:00:00+00:00

GenCor Invisi-Communique

***Begin***

RE: Headquarters

Above ground compromised.

RE: Research Level

Unaffected.

***End***

Chapter Sixteen

LOCUS: ALTER EARTH

Bostgo Sector

UnderCity

GenCor Hospital

Date: 13 Pentian

Time: 0800

CHUNKS OF CEILING FALL on the floor in front of us, exploding across the shiny marble. The elevator we’re riding on top of has stopped at the ground floor, but we’re on the second level of GenCor’s UnderCity lobby, facing a staircase that will lead us out the front door. The suspension cable strains as the building rocks once more. If we wait much longer, our ride is going to drop into the basement.

Dyad creeps forward, edging her front tire out onto the floor. Tonick shoves his boot into the opening of the next level down to keep it from closing. We’re hung between floors somehow. He leans out over me, looking first one way and then the other. It’s quiet. Like the calm before the storm.

Pop. Snap.

Cracks shoot up through the thick glass walls that surround the two-story lobby. The fissures glow like neon in the artificial daylight. A shatter is imminent, but every seam, every joint is reinforced by riveted metal.

Last year, during Sextus, a small army of UnderCity dwellers attacked the building. They wanted medical care but never made a dent. Tendrils of smoke curl toward us, emerging from the shadows like reapers’ fingers. A cable strand as thick as my ankle snaps. The fiber hits three sides of the elevator shaft, sending a spray of concrete shrapnel down on us.

“What are we going to do?” We’ve made it this far. Terror twists my stomach. We’re so close to freedom. We can’t wait for an opening. We have to make one. My pulse pounds in my ears.

“Don’t worry,” Tonick says. “Trade me places.” The straps loosen and disappear into Dyad once more.

Sure. The building is falling down around us. I won’t worry.

I don’t say any of it, but climb off Dyad and dance in place while Tonick scoots forward. I avoid looking at his ripped face. I’m not ready for that truth.

I take his seat, and Dyad fastens us both in place. It’s not warm like I expected. That’s new. Either his programming that makes him seem human is starting to fail or he’s turned it off. I wrap my arms around him, and my fingertips land in rips in his shirt and skin. The cold of the metal beneath my fingers is another surprise, but it doesn’t make me recoil. He’s still the knight who rescued me. He’s just fashioned from metal instead of bone.

Dyad creeps forward a few more inches, and Tonick leans forward again. Ahead of us, small circles pop open and flashing red lights push through.

“All occupants must exit the building through mandated procedure. Once free of danger, please wait for retrieval by the Corp patrols.” The recorded voice repeats the warning.

GenCor is on lockdown, and we’re trapped in the bottom of an imploding box.

No, thank you.

I won’t wait for the corrupted Corp to drag me back to GenCor.

We should have gone out through the Swank lobby at the top of the GenCor building.

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